27
Nov
Civil Society Registrations for the Wellington Conference Now Open!
“This is the city of action. The world headquarters of the verb.” - Poet Lauris Edmond writing about Wellington
Kia Ora from Aotearoa New Zealand!
The Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition (NZ CMC) invites civil society representatives to register for the Wellington Conference, which will take place from 18-22 February 2008 at the Town Hall.
New Zealand is expensive to get to (especially during the ’southern’ summer) and we anticipate that the visa application process will be complex and time-consuming so please register immediately using the official civil society participant registration form. We will provide the government with the list of civil society participants to the Wellington Conference (this will be recorded with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is operating the registration process for government delegates).
- If you require sponsorship and/or visa assistance, please complete and submit registration form together with a travel itinerary and price quotation so that we can consider whether to sponsor your participation. (We will respond in days–no longer than a week).
- If you do not require sponsorship please submit a completed registration as we need to know who is coming!
- If you live in New Zealand and wish to attend please register and also check if you are a member of any NZ CMC member organisation (if so please inform them about your participation in the Conference)
The NZ CMC serves as the principal point of civil society contact with the government, media, and the global campaign on this issue. We are planning many exciting activities around the Wellington Conference including media stunts, public talks, and activities such as a pre-conference orientation session on Sunday 17 Feb. and a post-conference evaluation meeting immediately following the conclusion of the official conference.
Ms. Jamila Homayun started working this month as the Wellington Conference Coordinator on behalf of NZ CMC. She will be coming to the Vienna meeting next week to talk about preparations for the Wellington Conference and to specifically talk with those requiring visa assistance. Please consider Jamila your main point of contact for the Wellington Conference. She will be very happy to receive your registration forms (as soon as possible!), to assist with your visa applications, and, together with the coalition, to make your stay in Aotearoa New Zealand a pleasant and productive one.
Good luck with the Vienna Conference. We leave you with this welcome in Māori, an official language of New Zealand…
E nga iwi o te ao katoa (To the peoples of the whole world)
Haere mai, haere mai, haere mai (Welcome, welcome, welcome)
Haere mai ki te whenua o Aotearoa (Welcome to the land of Aotearoa/New Zealand)
Mary Wareham
Advocacy Director, Oxfam NZ
Coordinator, Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition
Other Conference information are available on the Conference section of our website..